


Black Veil

by keiraa



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Battle, Dark Hermione Granger, Death Eater Draco Malfoy, Death Eater Hermione Granger, Draco is an ass, Enemies to Lovers, Eventual Fluff, Eventual Romance, F/M, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Gryffindor, Hermione is paranoid, Insomnia, POV Draco Malfoy, POV Hermione Granger, Slow Burn, Slow Burn Hermione Granger/Draco Malfoy, Slow Romance, Slytherin, dramione - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-21
Updated: 2021-03-12
Packaged: 2021-03-18 03:55:01
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,682
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29603466
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/keiraa/pseuds/keiraa
Summary: Hermione has been tasked with the impossible; killing Albus Dumbledore. Draco Malfoy must make sure she can get the job done.
Relationships: Hermione Granger/Draco Malfoy
Comments: 2
Kudos: 16





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Warning: This work will be dark. This will contain torture, self-harm, deaths, and battlefield violence. Reader discretion is advised.  
> This will be a multi-chapter work.  
> I will try to update 1+ times a week. There will be fewer updates in April due to my family moving.

_"Do you understand what you must do?"_

_Hermione is on the brink of collapsing. Bile rises into her throat. Her whole body is stiff and sweaty. Everything in front of her is foggy and distorted. She can hear the muffled voices of people around her but can only make out her shaky breaths. New emotions fill every bone in her body. Emotions that she has yet to understand._

_"Fix her." Is all she hears before her body twists in anguish. A curse rips through her body. Every muscle in her body burns as though she has been set on fire. Her head pounds. Her ears ring. All the sounds around her are drowned by the sound of her screaming in agonizing pain._

_It had felt like years until the curse was lifted. Her mangled and immobilized body was left to lay on the cold hardwood floors. Her muscles twitched every so often. Although the curse had ended, the agonizing pain had remained. Her head still pounded. Her ears still rang. She could still hear her screams and pleas for help._

_"Look at me."_

_Her head lifts only an inch before dropping back onto the floor. She feels paralyzed. Her body feels dead._

_Dead._

_Hermione felt that if she let go, she would die. Her body felt as though it were ready. Ready to die._

_"No surprise that the mudblood is weak."_

_She feels a wand prod at her face. Without warning, her eyes were snapped open forcefully without her permission. She had lost control of herself._

_As her vision swims back into view, she can make out vague figures around her. She mostly sees black._

_Black._

_Had the curse blinded her? It couldn't have. Hermione was still lucid enough to know how certain curses work. Only long-term uses of them can cause damage. She was sure that the cruciatus curse was what had been used on her._

_Black turns into grey. Grey turns into fog. It feels like an eternity until her vision comes back to her. As soon as she can make out faces amongst her, she uses the only amount of strength left in her body to lift herself off of the ground. Her hands search around for something to grab onto._

_More muffled voices._

_A blond head makes its way towards her. It slides through the people, approaching her slowly with its arms out. A hand grips her arm tightly, stabilizing her as she wobbles. Her vision warps and distorts in front of her as though she were in a pool._

_Everything becomes clearer. A black table with splotches of black and blond around it comes into view first. Then the blond._

_Malfoy._

_His eyes look lifeless. Like he is dead. Like he doesn't have any emotions. His eyes are complemented by his pale skin, which looks just a dead as his eyes. The signature quirked eyebrow and slant of the smirk on his lips was gone. He looked almost nothing like he did at school. The ego he projected so often when he delivered his witty remarks was drowned by an unsettling look of misery. At school, he seemed like the invincible bully, but here, where ever here is, he seems weak. It seems like one fatal blow to his subconsciousness could ruin him._

_How she would love to take advantage of this situation. She would love to throw some snarky remarks his way. The only issue was, she is not a child anymore. Hermione is anything but a child. She has grown up, unlike Ron and Harry. Both of whom would take their chance to harass Malfoy as soon as they could. She was tired of their childlike antics. The way they played around and acted like everything was normal. Yes, the changes would get to them at certain points, but they would never acknowledge it for more than a day. They would just go back to pretending everything was like it used to be. Like everything was normal. Nothing about these most recent years was normal. She could tell that everything was going to change._

_But...she couldn't help but feed into their sense of normalcy._

_Suddenly, rough hands shove Hermione out of Malfoys grasp. She is thrown into a chair at one edge of the smooth black table. Across from her sits a deathly pale man._

_Voldemort._

_He sits across from her with an impatient look all over his pale face._

_"Do you remember your task, or must I refresh your memory?" He asks in a raspy and drawling voice._

_Hermione opens her mouth to speak but is only able to rasp out a quiet attempt at words._

_He chuckles._

_"Who knew that mudbloods could barely handle one minute of the cruciatus. How disappointing."_

_Her mind is foggy. Her body is cold. Her lips are sealed together in a straight line._

_"This year, while you are at Hogwarts, you will repair the Vanishing Cabinet in the Room of Requirement. You must complete this task before the year is over. If you fail to succeed, you will die. If you refuse, you will die. If you run, I will find you and kill anyone that stands in my way. Draco will be there to make sure you repair the cabinet to your best ability."_

_Voldemort gestures to Malfoy, who pales._

_"Then, once you complete that task, you must kill Albus Dumbledore."_

_The nauseous feeling returns to her as the world around her seems to spin. The voice of Voldemort commanding Death Eaters to tend to Hermione is drowned by her own heartbeat. Her breath seems to never come as she hyperventilates, begging for air._

_No._

_This can't be happening._

_These are the things she had nightmares about. The things that would jolt her violently awake. The things that would cause her to scream in her sleep._

_Being hopeless._

_Being controlled._

_Having her friends be in danger because of her. She can't let them die. She can't do that to them. Hermione would rather die. She knew that if she didn't do this she would die and so would Harry._

_Ron._

_Ginny._

_Luna._

_Neville._

_All of them. They would all be gone._

_So she has to choose._

_One life._

_or_

_The lives of dozens of people. The lives of her friends._

_Dumbledore._

_He had protected all of them. He gave them a home when theirs felt nothing like one. He kept them out of the worst situations. He had saved their lives. Hermione had known since last year that without Dumbledore, they would all be dead._

_If she did kill him, what would happen. What would she gain? What would she lose?_

_Every thought battles in her head._

_If I don't kill him, then I'll die and someone else will kill him anyway._

_I can't stop him from dying._

_It might as well be me to do it. To say goodbye._

_To say sorry._

_This is it._

_The world is ending._

_Hermione Granger has to kill Albus Dumbledore._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't forget to kudos and comment! It really helps!  
> \- Keira <3


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys enjoy this chapter!  
> <3

Darkness.

That is all Hermione could see. 

The air is stale, wet, and cold. Lifeless.

Hermione's body lays immobilized in a corner.

She couldn't move. She couldn't attempt to escape.

Without her wand, she was useless.

Hermione cursed at herself for not mastering non-wand magic. She had been so caught up in studying to get her Apparation license.

Sometimes she regretted being so worried about being a great witch. Being so perfect.

But, she told herself since the day she had gotten her letter from Hogwarts that she had to prove to everyone that muggle-borns could be just at good at magic as every other witch and wizard.

She strived for the best. She strived for equality within the wizarding community. She strived for too much.

So now, Hermione has been captured. Captured by Voldemort, the evilest and the most powerful wizard in the world. This wizard hates muggle-borns, which Hermione so happens to be.

She would likely die because she could not defend herself without a wand.

Hermione could not even recite pages in books aloud to occupy her time. A silencing charm had been used on her.

So she was left to listen.

Listen to the silence.

Listen to her own thoughts.

Every couple of minutes, a dripping sound would echo through the room she was in.

Her cell.

Her prison.

The drip got more frequent.

Hermione got more irritable.

_Drip._

Her head started to pound.

_Drip._

She wanted to yell.

_Drip._

She wanted to scream.

_Drip._

She is slowly going crazy.

_Dri-_

A deafening screeching sound fills the room, drowning out the drip.

If Hermione could, she would scream. The noise was horrible.

Then, light filled the room, blinding Hermione. It was bright. Terribly bright.

The light stabbed into her eyes no matter how hard she squeezed her eyelids together.

Her ears rung loudly, and her eyes felt like they were on fire.

"Get up." She heard a cold voice command her.

She didn't move.

She didn't reply.

She couldn't.

"Oh, right. The Dark Lord immobilized you. How could I forget? You were one hell of an escape artist."

Hermione didn't know who was talking to her. She couldn't see.

She didn't remember what he was talking about.

"Anyway, you should know what I am here for."

She didn't. There felt like pieces were missing in her memory. Like a puzzle with the last piece lost.

"I am just going to torture you a bit. Then, you have a very important meeting to attend with the Dark Lord."

She could feel the pain before the curse even hit her.

Then it started. The curse ripped through her body like fire.

The pain was worse than the last time she had remembered. It felt like hot knives were stabbing her repeatedly. Her insides felt as though they were twisting into tight knots over and over again. Her whole body throbbed with unreleased tension and pain.

She wanted to scream.

She needed to scream.

After what seemed like years, the curse stopped, but the agony remained. The pain felt like it was trapped in every bone in her body just burning to break free.

She needed for the pain to be released. She needed it to break free.

But it couldn't.

The pain didn't leave. It stayed and pounded at her head, leaving her hopeless.

"If only I could kill you." She hears the man say in a sneering tone.

"The Dark Lord will likely take care of that for me though."

Her body became light, and she was lifted off the hard ground. Even though she felt weightless, the pain stayed, still coiled inside her nerves.

The click of shoes rang through Hermione's head as she and the man that tortured her traveled through different rooms. Hermione could tell the different rooms apart by their smell, the amount of light in them, and the clicking that the man's shoes made against different surfaces.

She memorized the sounds. The lights, hoping that when she escapes... if she escapes, she will know where to go.

The man stopped for a moment, Hermione stopping next to him. She heard him and another man with a deep, cold voice speaking together. Their voices jumbled into one muffled mess, but Hermione tried her best to make out their conversation.

"What is the Dark Lord going to do with this... mudblood?"

"I have no clue. If she doesn't remember what he told her to do he will probably just kill the useless thing. She can't remember shit."

Their chuckles echo through her head.

"Well, I am taking her to him now. Let's hope he kills her for us. We don't need her filthy blood around us. I can practically feel myself getting sick from being around her."

Hermione was used to their remarks. Every ignorant pure-blood called her by these names.

"Filth."

"Mudblood."

"Slut."

"Useless."

It saddened her to feel used to the inequality she was shown. She had been called those names since her first day at Hogwarts. Snotty kids would talk about her behind her backs, whisper things about her since day one.

She never fought back.

Her body moves once more. Once she stops again, she knows that she is at her final destination.

Hermione drops to the ground with a heavy thud before the immobilization charm is lifted off of her. The man grabs her before she can make a run for it.

"Don't you dare try to escape, you filth. I will be standing right outside the door."

As Hermione gets dragged into yet another room, she uses all of her strength to try to fight her way out of the man's arms.

No luck.

The whole room is dim. Black. It's empty besides the same black table that Voldemort and his Death Eaters sat at when she was with them. The same table where she was told to kill Dumbledore.

She can faintly make out a figure in the same spot he was in.

It has to be him. Just like the men were saying.

She can see Voldemort gesture the man out with a simple wave of his hand. As he lets go of her, her knees give out, making her have to catch herself.

"I would have expected you to be better dressed for this day. Today is an exciting day for you, Miss Granger." Voldemort sounded peeved and disappointed.

"I see that Yaxley has tortured you well." His hand gestures towards hers, which are madly twitching. Hermione didn't even notice that they were.

"There is something I must do to ensure that you will get the task complete and won't try to escape."

She is frozen.

"Come, come."

Hermione listens, despite her brain's resistance.

She tries so hard to disobey Voldemort, but his power against her is too strong. She can't control her own body anymore.

Hermione gets dangerously close to him, and he put his hand up, making Hermione's arm raise.

She knows precisely what is about to happen, but she can't stop it.

Tears sting in her eyes as her reality hits her.

Voldemorts cold fingers enclose tightly around Hermione's wrist.

His wand prods at her exposed forearm.

He holds her arm tighter.

Then, her arm burns. The pain courses through her veins like lava. She can hear her agonizing cries filling her head.

It burns. It feels like knives are cutting into her.

Deep, black ink seeps into her skin, leaving the mark of the Death Eater right on Hermione's forearm.

The ink feels like it's bubbling under her skin.

Hermione pleads in her head for it to all stop.

And it does.

Yet, the pain persists.

Just like the curse, the pain remains coiled up in her body, begging for release.

Tears flow out of Hermione's eyes as she clutches her arm to her chest.

This is it.

She is one of them now.

She now a Death Eater.

For all of eternity.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't forget to kudos and comment! It really helps!  
> \- Keira <3


	3. Chapter 3

Hermione looked at her forearm, watching the ink seep into her skin.

She could feel the ink was swirling around the blood in her veins, letting its Dark Magic spread through her.

She felt sick.

The world started spinning.

Everything around her was distorted.

She collapsed, her head striking the ground with a crack.

Everything went dark.

Hermione woke up surrounded by never-ending darkness. Again.

There were no glimmers of light shining through windows or cracks of doors.

It was simply darkness. Everywhere.

She squinted her eyes, hoping they might adjust and allow her to see.

It was a lost effort.

It was too dark. She couldn't even make out her hand right in front of her.

Hermione ran her hand in a circle, feeling for something, anything.

Her fingertips investigated the different flooring she was laying on, scratching at the gaps. This time, rather than stone, she was on a cold hardwood floor.

Something new.

Something different.

She found nothing else. So, she listened.

It was deathly soundless.

She could hear her heart beating, her own trembling breaths.

Each minuscule noise she made seemed to thunder through the room.

It must be big.

Empty.

Everything around her smelled strongly of Mahogany. It made Hermione's head pound.

That wasn't the only thing irritating her.

Her mark stung. Bubbled. Burned.

It made sure that she couldn't forget her new life. Her new nightmare.

She had tried so hard to push it all away into the darkest and deepest corner in her mind, but it always forced its way through her whole mind.

She couldn't forget. She couldn't hide.

It was like torture.

Her own nightmares were playing right in front of her.

Every single one of them.

She had no control.

They had control. The people who did this to her have control over everything.

They are forcing her to become like them.

Evil.

They marked her with the Dark Mark and are letting the ink sink into her veins, corrupting her.

The very people that love and trust her are going to die because of them. Her.

It was all so much to handle.

Everything was going too fast.

Her mind was always racing.

Her heart was always racing.

She couldn't escape this never-ending merry-go-round of suffering.

She was just stuck to live with the heartbreak. The pain. The sorrow.

Forever.

All she could do was deal with it. Live with it.

In a matter of days, Hermione saw her whole perfectly planned life crumble.

She was ruined.

It ruined her to see this life she strived for be shattered.

She wanted to finish school. Become an excellent healer. Merry someone perfect. Have kids. Grow old. Move to the Paris countryside when she got old.

But now, that won't happen because she will forever be known as the girl who killed. The perfect little muggle-born girl turned evil.

Maybe she could find a way to escape. To fix her life. But, with the mark she now bore on her left forearm, that would likely not happen.

She had fought so hard.

For nothing.

Books and bravery couldn't save her this time.

So she sat on the ground and let out stifled sobs.

She was surprised that the silencing charm had been lifted, but she didn't take the chance to regain her voice.

Her cries made her throat raw, dry.

She cried until there were no more tears left in her eyes. She cried like it was the last time she could.

Her guts twisted with dread.

Her cheeks were sticky with tears, cold.

Hermione's eyes were puffy and heavy.

Her nose was clogged, and her headache was worse.

She felt gross.

Hermione wasn't usually the crier in the group. It was generally Ron.

It was weird for her to cry. Different.

She had been so used to bottling up her emotions and putting on a fearless face.

Crying was probably a thing she might have to get used to.

Hermione's eyes were heavy, drifting shut. Sleep was so close to overcoming her when light filled the room.

Her eyes felt like they were being stabbed yet again.

"God, Granger. You look horrible."

Malfoy.

Of course.

Hermione could barely see but could tell that he had a cold and indifferent look glued onto his face.

His usual icy aura had returned.

"Shut-up." Hermione quickly snapped, briskly getting off the floor.

"Ooo, mudblood has some sass." Malfoy's voice was low and taunting.

"I said shut-up, Malfoy. I don't need to deal with you."

She didn't. He was a condescending bully. Like he had always been.

Her eyes darted from Malfoy to the door behind him.

Then she ran.

Caught Malfoy off guard.

Her mind was fogged. She wasn't thinking.

She could barely see but could make out the faint outline of a door right across from the room she was in.

She ran as fast as her legs would let her.

She could feel the blood rushing through her body.

Her breaths stuttered rapidly in her chest.

Hermione was so close to the door.

10 feet.

8 feet.

5 feet.

3 feet.

1 foo-

Malfoy grabbed her arm right before her hand grabbed ahold of the door handle.

He had grabbed her left arm, making her hiss in pain.

She tried to twist out of his grasp, only making her mark burn more.

"Let-go-of-me!" Hermione screamed at Malfoy, tears stung in her eyes. "Just let me go-! Please-"

"No," Malfoy stated in a final tone. His jaw was tensed.

"Please-! If you let me go, I'll say it was my fault. You could act as though you killed me, or I killed myself. Please, Malfoy." She was begging at this point.

"I can't do that." His responses were short and were complimented with a cruel tone.

"Why? I am a good hider. Just, please. Malfoy, please." She was sobbing now.

"They will find you anyway, and I am not going to lie for some filthy mudblood." He snarled. His face was shadowed in pure annoyance.

"I'll end up dying anyway. You want that, right? Just let me see my friends one last time."

"So you can go warn them? I don't think so."

"Please-" She stopped fighting. She just started to sob.

How had she given up so easily?

To some, this would be a minor inconvenience.

Her mind immediately went to Malfoy.

He probably enjoyed being a Death Eater. He had been prepared for it his whole life. He had been brought up to be an evil, condescending, bully.

Hermione felt like a child for giving up. She felt sick and weak. She had spent her whole life thinking she was brave.

But was she really?

Her arm felt raw.

Her throat felt raw.

There was no point.

Malfoy watched her, blank-faced, as she cried. His eyes were icy cold and patronizing.

He didn't care.

Of course, he didn't.

The air was thick with distaste. Hermione could practically taste it.

"Don't think I am going to pity you, Granger." He retorted suddenly, his voice held a razor-sharp edge. "Anyway, you are going to get sent to your boyfriend's house this evening." He said. He was talking about the Weasley family's house. "Your stuff is already there. You must act as though there is nothing wrong. If you do, there will be consequences. Might I add, if you try to run, you will likely die. If you try to kill yourself, well, you won't be able to. So, don't try. I think that covers it."

"Screw you." Hermione seethed, her tears finally coming to a halt. "He isn't my boyfriend."

Malfoy scoffed, not convinced.

"Getting quite defensive, aren't you?"

"I hate you."

"That's kind of the point. Anyway, I'll tell you this one last time. If you try to hint at any of your tasks, you and all of your friends will get killed. If I am lucky, I will be the one that gets to kill you."

He seemed to grin at the realization.

"I bet you would like that," Hermione mumbled quickly.

"I would, actually."

He chuckled to himself.

With that, he turned on his heel and strode out of the room. Right before he disappeared behind the corner, he whipped his head around to face Hermione, whose hand was inching closer to the door handle.

"Don't try to escape, Granger. You will just get yourself hurt."

Then he was gone, and Hermione was alone.

His hatred still lingered in the air.

She didn't listen to Malfoy.

Her hand had launched for the handle as soon as Malfoy had turned the corner.

But it stopped. It halted just an inch away from the handle.

No matter how much strength Hermione used, her hand wouldn't get closer. It couldn't.

She tried harder.

Her hand started to burn. She gritted her teeth together, still pushing through the pain.

It felt like knives were jabbing at her palm.

Tears pricked her eyes.

It hurt too much. Hermione gave up.

She hissed in pain as her hand-launched back towards her.

Hermione immediately took her hand in her other and looked at her palm.

On it, the words "I told you so." laid etched into her skin.

The wounds were deep. Like it was meant to warn her. To hurt her.

They stung as they faded into nothing. The wounds had closed up completely. Not even leaving a scar or a faint tint of blood.

Hermione stood with her hand close to her, frozen. Pure terror coursed through her veins.

How did he do that?

How did he know?

The only time Hermione had seen this kind of magic used was during her 5th-year.

Umbridge had used that type of magic on Harry.

But that-that was different. She had used an enchanted quill, and it left a scar. A bad one.

Did Malfoy use Dark Magic?

Hermione didn't even think that he could be able to harness that type of magic at such a young age.

She ground her teeth in frustration.

If he was using Dark Magic, how was he able to stay alive. Malfoy was definitely now powerful enough to be able to hold Dark Magic in his body.

All the books she had spent all of her summers poring over told her nothing about how a young, weak wizard could be able to safely harness Dark Magic.

Malfoy would probably just rot from the inside out.

So what was it?

Hermione started pacing. It helped her think.

It had become dark by the time Malfoy had returned to the drawing-room.

Hermione sat restlessly on an elegant-looking loveseat. She was eager to leave.

She had still not figured out what Malfoy had done. She had recited pages of certain books, hoping that they would provide an answer, but her search came up empty.

"Are you using Dark Magic?" Hermione asked, making Malfoy jump. He looked startled to see her.

"Jesus, Granger. I forgot you were here." He drawled, starting to rummage around his suit pocket.

"You didn't answer my question." Hermione snapped, getting up quickly from her seat.

Malfoy pauses for a second and studies Hermione, who has her arms tightly folded against her chest.

"I don't need to answer your question." He says simply, returning his attention to his pocket. "Anyway, I have a couple more rules. First, don't speak to me at school. It will make it too obvious that we are working together."

"We aren't," Hermione muttered, wishing she was right.

"We are. Second, if you need to speak, don't send owls. Those can be intercepted." He stated as though it were not obvious. "Third, listen to me. Don't you dare pull the shit you pulled today."

"What you did was psychotic." She sneered, resisting the urge to smack Malfoy or knee him in the groin.

"Would you rather me have killed you right then and there?"

"I bet you would have."

Malfoy let out a barking laugh.

"I would have if the Dark Lord would have let me. That would be like free game!"

Finally, Malfoy stopped digging in his pocket and pulled out Hermione's wand.

"Give that back!" Hermione yelled, launching out at Malfoy for her wand.

"Ah, ah, ah," Malfoy said, wagging his finger tauntingly in front of her face. "If you break any of the rules I have told you, I will kill you. I am good at covering things up and I don't give a shit whether or not you are alive."

With that, he tossed Hermione's wand back to her. She caught it reflexively.

"You are just an as-"

Hermione was cut off by a sharp tig at her naval.

Her feet lifted off the ground.

Then, she was gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't forget to kudos and comment! It really helps!  
> \- Keira <3


	4. Chapter 4

Hello to all of my amazing readers! I just want to quickly say thank you for 400 hits! It means so much to me! You guys are wonderful! :)

Another thing I wanted to say was I am going to start updating around Wednesday or Thursday each week. I want to be able to get out good chapters, not rushed ones. So, expect the next chapter in a couple of days! (It's Friday where I am)

I love you guys!

-Keira <3


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